Branches, greenery and pine cones will work just fine. Stick in a few Magnolia leaves if you have them too. I leave my evergreens out in my pots all winter.

hardy rosemary? could pick up fir tree shaped ones about now. looks good year round
cora

This is my copper kettle on the patio... I have 2 large plastic pots in it from summer flowers ... now I stick pine branches into the dirt in those pots & all around...throw in some loose pinecones, added some Curly Willow sticks & moved a cast iron bunny to the front of it ...plus a birchwood tree that DH had experimented w/cutting out.
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Have fun w/your pinecones ...I've seen some neat cone trees w/pinecones glued on! Jeanne S.

I also use gourds & Fall stuff w/pinecones ...here's enamel pot on my Baker's Rack on the patio (for winter)...it was my herb garden container.

I stick evergreen branches in mine. In fact I'll be headed out this weekend to pick the branches. I try to get a variety of evergreens.

For December, I add some branches that I spray paint red or silver. In January I add some little snowmen on sticks. I add some hearts for February. I get rid of them in March and put my pansies out.

We're in the planning stages of a garage renovation. When we widen the driveway, I'm thinking of some large cedar planters to form the boundary between lawn and driveway. I'm thinking of some dwarf conifers in those planters. I would put annuals around the base in the spring, summer and fall. And for the winter I could decorate like I do my front step containers.

You should be able to pick up small fake Christmas trees at thrift stores now. Those would be cute too. No watering required. lol